spirula
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spir·u·la
(spĭr′yə-lə, spĭr′ə-)n. pl. spir·u·lae (-lē′)
A small squid of the genus Spirula, having a spirally coiled, chambered, internal shell often found on beaches.
[Late Latin spīrula, twisted cake, diminutive of Latin spīra, coil; see spire2.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
spirula
(ˈspaɪrʊlə)n
(Animals) a tropical cephalopod mollusc, Spirula peronii, having prominent eyes, short arms, and a small flattened spirally coiled internal shell: order Decapoda (cuttlefish and squids)
[C19: via New Latin from Late Latin: a small twisted cake, from Latin spīra a coil]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
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| Noun | 1. |  spirula - a small tropical cephalopod of the genus Spirula having prominent eyes and short arms and a many-chambered shell coiled in a flat spiraldecapod - cephalopods having eight short tentacles plus two long ones genus Spirula - genus of small cephalopods with many-chambered spiral shells resembling those of the extinct belemnites |
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